When the Hawaiian wildfires happened August of 2023, most Maui residents were evacuated. Many had to leave their animals behind. Because the Hawaiian animal shelter was not able to handle the volume of the animals that had been rescued, they reached out to rescue groups and shelters on the US mainland.
One of those groups was American Greyhound, and in November we welcomed these two “whippet mixes”. These boys were very thin due to their circumstances, but Foster Dad Jeff said, “I have as much Whippet in me as these boys do.”
Tubbs and Inspector Javert (now JibJab!) arrived and were initially split up between two different foster homes. Unfortunately, Tubbs was too shell shocked and it became apparent that he needed JibJab for emotional support. They were soon reunited and fostered together, which resulted in Tubbs doing much better.
Based on what we know, these boys had lived their entire lives to that point outside in an island paradise – roaming, eating, and pottying wherever and whenever. We learned that they were basically feral and had no problem pooping in their crates, then walking through it and also laying in it as they didn’t understand the issue. Each morning, their foster family would have to clean two little dogs and their crates, and sometimes the wall – only to repeat the process again when they got home from work.
We learned they sought comfort from each other and would go into a single crate to lay tangled up with each other. And that was the magic we needed to turn the corner. With a little help from a special behavioral trainer, they soon became our most well-mannered dogs.
We took both boys to McAfee Animal Hospital in Valparaiso to see if maybe meds would help with their anxiety and the vet told us Tubbs might not be able to adjust to living in a home. The vet said we might need to look at placing him with a family on a farm where he could live outside, or possibly even consider euthanasia, because sometimes letting a terribly anxious dog go is the kindest thing we can do for them.
However, we knew of a vet tech at McAfee who was credentialed as a dog trainer, and we hired her to work with these boys. Olivia was able to quickly recognize that they had trust issues. She was so patient with them, letting them come to her on their own terms. Once trust was established, she made so much progress with them.
Foster Mom (and adopter!) Barb said, “Jeff and I have fostered over 300 greyhounds and some have been very challenging, but no other dog prepared us for these two feral souls. They actually brought both Jeff and me to tears at different points, but then they turned the corner and became such sweet boys. Because of the caveat that these boys needed to be adopted together, there wasn’t really a lot of interest in taking two at the same time.
As time went on, the bar for what we would consider as an acceptable home for them grew higher and higher. Last week, we sat down and had a serious conversation about keeping “Fric and Frac”, as we have fostered them just under 2 years and they fit in most of the time with our other dogs. These boys took both Jeff and me to new lows in their early months with us, but we all came out the other side as a family unit. That is why we decided to add JibJab and Tubbsy as permanent family members of the Casa de Coggins Clan.”
We are so happy for Barb, Jeff, JibJab, Tubbs, and all the Coggins hounds! Thanks for sharing your story with us!
Have a Happy Tails story of your own? Email chamrick@americangreyhound.com to share!